Skirt gage



1959 J. F. BAUMAN 2,871,564.

SKIRT GAGE Filed March 31, 1958 INVEN JOSEPH F. BAU

ATTORN EY SKIRT GAGE Joseph F. Bauman, Oradell, N. .1. Application March 31, 1958, Serial No. 725,033 7 Claims. c1. 33 -9) The present invention is directed to a skirt gage, and more particularly to a skirt gage for enabling women to accurately adjust the height of the hems of dresses and related garments, and to facilitate in the making of satisfactory hems of doubled-over material.

The satisfactory measuring of dress and skirt hems has long proved to be a most diflicult problem. A wide variety of gages have been constructed to facilitate in the formation of hems, but generally such gages have proved to be unsatisfactory because of their relative complexity or their relatively high cost.

This invention has as an object the provision of a skirt gage.

This invention has as another object the provision of a skirt gage which is of relatively low cost.

This invention has as a further object the provision of a skirt gage formed of relatively cheap material which can be satisfactorily manipulated by an unskilled user.

This invention has as yet another object the provision of a skirt gage which may be readily disassembled-for storage when not in use.

This invention has as yet a further object the provision of a skirt gage which will allow the pinning of a hem in the position in which it can be sewn without the refolding of the hem.

Other objects will appear hereinafter.

For the purpose of illustrating the invention there is shown in the drawings forms which are presently preferred; it being understood, however, that this invention is not limited to the precise arrangements and instrumentalities shown.

Figure l is an exploded perspective view of one skirt gage embodiment of the present invention.

Figure 2 is a perspective view of another skirt gage embodiment of the present invention.

Figure 3 is a perspective view of yet another skirt gage embodiment of the present invention.

Figure 4 is an exploded perspective view of another skirt gage embodiment of the present invention.

Figure 5 is a perspective view of another skirt gage embodiment of the present invention.

Referring initially to Figure 1 the skirt gage embodiment shown therein is designated generally as 10. The skirt gage comprises the base 12 which may be formed of carboard, plywood, plastic, or the like. The base 12 includes the anchoring plug 14 which is centrally disposed on and cemented or otherwise joined to the uppermost surface of base 12. The anchoring plug 14 may comprise a circular disc of wood or the like, or may comprise a frustroconical disc member having a slight outward taper from top to bottom.

The skirt gage 10 includes the tube 16 which is preferably formed of cardboard or like lightweight material. The tube 16 is open at both ends and is preferably of uniform inside diameter throughout its entire length.

The bottom end 18 of tube 16 may be slip-fitted or pressure-fitted, preferably by a twisting motion, onto the anchoring plug 14.

2 The skirt gage 10 also includes the wire gage member 20. Such wire gage member is formed of bent metal wire, which metal wire should have a degree of resiliency while permanently retaining its bent configuration, whose bottom portion 22 is twisted into a serpentine-like disposition and is disposed within tube 16. By serpentinelike as used herein is meant to include one or more bends in the wire. By forming the coils of bottom portion 22 in such manner that the same engage the inside wall surface of the tube 16, the wire gage member 20 may be selectively raised or lowered in respect to tube 16, with such wire gage member 20 being secured in a selected position in respect to tube 16 by the frictional engagement between the coils of bottom portion 22 of wire gage member 20 and the inside wall surface of tube 16.

The upper portion of the wire gage member 20 extends outwardly from the tube 16 and includes the looped portion 24 and the straight horizontal portion 26. As seen in Figure 1 the upper portion of the wire gage member 20 is provided with a plurality of bends so that the straight horizontal portion 26 extends on either side of the dependent part of the wire gage member 20 which depends from the looped portion 24. In the embodiment of the skirt gage 10- shown in Figure 1 the straight horizontal portion 26 extends laterally on either side of the tube 16.

The use of the skirt gage 10 of the present invention is as follows:

The base 12, tube 16, and wire gage member 20 may be separately stored. When it is desired to use the same, the. tube 16 is slipped over the anchoring plug 14. The wire gage member 20 is inserted into the tube 16 with the bottom portion 22 of such wire gage member 20 engaging the inside wall surface of the tube 16.

The height of the straight horizontal portion 26 above the floor on which the base 12 is supported is adjusted by raising the wire gage member 20 through the tube 16,

the frictional engagement of the bottom portion 22 of wire gage member 20 fixing the wire gage member 20 at any desired height. If desired, a graduated scale, such as a rule maybe printed onto. the outermost surface of the wire gage member 20 in order to facilitate the precise positioning of the straight horizontal portion 26 in respect to the floor on which the base 12 is carried.

The hem of the garment which the user wishes to form is prepared by rolling or curling or folding the lowermost edge of the users garment over the straight horizontal portion 26 and then pinning in place. This is done small section by small section until the entire hem is formed. If desired, the horizontal portion 26 may. be arcuately curved, with such arcuate curve disposed in a plane parallel to the base 12.

In the skirt gage embodiment 10a shown in Figure 2 the base 12a and the tube 16a may generally resemble the base 12 and tube 16 of skirt gage 10 of Figure 1.

However, in place of the wire gage member 20 of skirt gage 10 of Figure 1, the wire gage member 20a is provided with a looped portion 24a which curves downwardly directly into the straight horizontal portion 26a without any intermediate bend. The bottom portion 22a of wire gage member 20a is coiled in serpentine-like disposition and generally resembles the bottom portion 22 of wire gage member 20 of skirt gage 10 of Figure 1.

In the skirt gage embodiment 1% shown in Figure 3, the construction generally resembles that of skirt gage 10a except that the looped portion 24b comprises a plurality of bends which extend to the straight horizontal portion 26b of wire gage member 20b.

In the skirt gage embodiment 10c shown in Figure 4 the base 28 is formed of a wire annular member 30 to which is welded or brazed a pair of crossed upright mem- Patented Feb. 3, 1959 bers 32. Preferably, such crossed upright members 32 should taper outwardly from top to bottom.

Th etub'e 160 of skirt gage embodiment 10c generally resembles the tube 16 of skirt gage 10 of Figure l, and is slip-fitted onto the crossed upright members 32 of 132156.28.

The wire gagememberzflc is frictionally engagedwith the inside wall surface of the tubelfic atitscoiled serpentine-like. bottomportion 22a. The upperpartof the wire gage member 205 lies within a single horizontal plane 10c, and 10d generally resemble the operation of the,

skirt gage embodiment 10 of Figurel which has already been described.

The skirt gage of the present invention comprises a simple and foolproof structure which may be readily assembled and disassembled by even the least mechanically inclined of users, and which may be constructed for a minimal sum. It is light inweight and possesses great durability. i

The present invention maybe embodied in other specific forms without departing from the spirit or essential attributes thereof and, accordingly, reference should be made to the appended claims, rather than to the foregoing specification as indicating the scope of the invention.

I claim: Y

1. A skirt gage including a base, a hollow tube projecting perpendicularly upwardly from said base, and a wire gage member, the bottom portion of said wire gage member being bent, said bent bottom portion of said wire gage member being frictionally engaged with the inner wall surface of said tube, the upper portion of said wire gage member projecting from the top of said tube, with the free end of said upper portion of said wire gage member being horizontally disposed.

2. A skirt gage including a base, an upright extending from said base, a hollow tube, said hollow tube being slip-fitted onto said upright, and a wire gage member, the bottom portion of said wire gage member being bent,

said bent bottom portion of said wire gage member being frictionally engaged with the inner wall surface of said tube, the upper portion of said wire gage member projecting from the top of said tube, with the free end of said upper portion of said wire gage member being horizontally disposed.

3. A skirt gage in accordance with claim 2 in which the base is formed from bent wire.

4. A skirt gage in accordance with claim 2 in which the base includes a disc as the upright, with the hollow tube being slip-fitted onto the disc.

5. A skirt gage including a base, a hollow tube projecting perpendicularly upwardly from; said base, and a wire gage member, the bottom portion of said wire gage member being frictionally engaged with the inner wall surface of said tube, the upper portion of said wire gage member projecting from the top of said tube, a bend in the upper portion of said wire gage member, and a horizontally disposed free end disposed beneath the bend in the upper portion of said wire gage member.

6. A skirt gage including a base, a hollow tube projecting perpendicularly upwardly from said base, and a Wire gage member, the bottom portion of said wire gage member beingfrictionally engaged with the inner wall surfaceof said tube, the upper portion of said. wire gage member projecting from the top of said tube, said upper portion including a bend and a free end portion, with said bend and said free end portion being, disposed within a horizontal plane.

I 7 A skirt gage including a hollow tube and a wire gage member, with the bottom portion of said wire gage mem ber being bent, said bent bottom portion of saidwire gage member being frictionally engaged with the. inner.- Wall' surface of said tube, the upper portion of said wire gage member projecting from the top .of said tube, with the free end of said upper portion of said Wire gage member being horizontally disposed when the, tube is maintained upright.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 881,484 Peck Mar. 10, 1908 1,978,770 Stewart Oct. 30; 1934 I FOREIGN PATENTS 433,461 France Oct. 27, 1911 

